


and now I'm covered in you

by toastweasel



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, Reunions, Romantic Fluff, a gift for the best person in the universe, do vaccines exist in canon?, i say there are vaccines in canon and that kya does vaccine drives, kya being good with kids, kya being her awesome healer self, lin taking care of her partner, theres a billion story mecha that shoots fantasy spirit lasers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28203306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toastweasel/pseuds/toastweasel
Summary: Lin surprises Kya in the SWT for the Solstice with an assist from an old friend.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 26
Kudos: 146





	and now I'm covered in you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cassiopeiasara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiopeiasara/gifts).



> This one's for you, Cass! Thanks for recommending to me all of the best wlw books and for being my favorite Kya fangirl on the planet. Some soft Kyalin where Lin surprises Kya and takes care of her, as requested. :)
> 
> Title from Ivy by Taylor Swift. Beta by Linguini.

**[Saturday; Harbor City, Southern Water Tribe]**

_ “The situation with the union is escalating and there appears to be no end in sight,” _ Lin says apologetically, and Kya restrains a sigh. She knew a call from Lin so close to her departure date would mean nothing but trouble. _ “My ticket is for tomorrow so—” _

“Lin, it’s fine,” Kya says softly, and tries to keep the disappointment out of her voice as she cradles the receiver under her ear. “We’ll just reschedule your visit for when Republic City isn’t a powderkeg.”

She hears her partner exhale on the other end of the line, and she can practically see Lin leaned back in her desk chair at Headquarters, rubbing distractedly at the migraine in her temple.

_ “I have to go,” _ Lin says apologetically. _ “I’ll send a telegram.” _

“Alright. I love you.”

_ “Love you, too.” _

She hangs up the phone, leaning against the wall of her practice and taking a moment to compose herself. It has been almost two months since she’s seen Lin, two months since she’d been wrapped in her arms at night and had her cooking. She had been looking forward to Lin’s visit, to their time together around the solstice. 

But, as always, Republic City came first.

She lets out the sigh she has been withholding and pinches the bridge of her nose, letting herself feel sorry for herself for just a moment.

“Everything alright, Kya?”

Kya looks up to see one of her senior healers hovering at the end of the hall. “It’s fine, Nanouk. It’s just…something has come up in Republic City and... Lin can’t make it.”

Nanouk’s brow furrows in concern. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine,” she says with a wave of her hand, even though it really wasn’t. “It just means I’ll be more focused on preparing the booth for the Glacier Spirits Festival.”

“Are you sure?” her fellow healer asks in shock. “You had taken those days off to be with Lin.”

“If she can’t make it there’s no point in taking the days off,” Kya tells her firmly, pushing herself off the wall and walking down the hall towards her. “Besides, we can always use an extra hand around the booth.”

Nanouk doesn’t look convinced, but nods and lets her past. Kya sighs and straightens her healer robes as she gets ready to move out into the main room of the practice. While disappointing, Lin delaying her visit isn’t the end of the world.

Besides, it isn’t like she doesn’t have things to distract herself with; Kya has patients to see. She needs to get back to work.

* * *

**[Wednesday; Republic City]**

Lin hangs up her phone and pushes back from her desk with a long sigh of relief. The Captain overseeing the negotiations had finally come back with the news that the factory worker union had come to terms with their employer, and the strike would be called off. Finally, after almost a month and more contentious street brawls between protesting workers and scabs than Lin could count, not to mention the  _ overtime _ , the damn thing was finally over.

Despite the fact it is only half past one, she stands and, after a quick glance at her schedule, grabs her keys.

“The strike is over,” she tells Saikhan as she steps out of her office and locks it behind her.

“Thank the Spirits,” he groans appreciatively. “You going home?”

“And I’m not coming back until noon.”

He gives her a little grin, and cheeky half-salute. “You got it, Lin. I think Master Tenzin was downstairs looking for you when I came up. You might save him the hoop jumping and see what he wants.”

She sighs. Now that Tenzin wasn’t a council member, he had to wait to see her and go through the official channels like everyone. What could he want? “I’ll catch him on my way out. Good night, Saikhan.”

“G’night, Chief.”

She takes the stairs down to the lobby, where sure enough she finds Tenzin growing increasingly frustrated with the bureaucracy of the downstairs secretaries.

“—telling you that Chief Beifong and I are old personal friends. If you could just call up to her assistant and—”

“Are you terrorizing my secretaries, Tenzin?”

He straightened up wildly, reaching up to adjust the drape of a robe that was no longer there. Fifty years of nervous muscle memory betrayed him, despite the fact he hadn’t worn traditional robes in almost three years.

“Lin—I mean, Chief Beifong,” he says seriously, the smooth veneer of Councilman coming back despite the fact he no longer held that title either. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” she says with a raised eyebrow.

“Chief,” the secretary pleads desperately from behind the desk, overriding anything her old friend was about to say. “I was just trying to tell Master Tenzin—”

“It’s fine, Mina,” Lin tells her sternly. “Next time just let him in. You’re in luck, Tenzin, I’m on my way out.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

She waves for him to follow, and together the two walk through the lobby and out towards the entrance doors.

“I heard about the end of the strike,” Tenzin says without preamble as he holds the door open for her, and they enter into the heat of the Republic City summer. “Does this mean you’re going to the Southern Water Tribe to visit my sister after all?”

Lin sighs and shakes her head. “My boat left two days ago. Next one doesn’t leave for three more.”

“Which means you wouldn’t make it before the Solstice.”

“Unless I want to jump on the next barge.”

She rolls her eyes to show him what she thinks of  _ that _ idea. She wants to see her partner, but not badly enough to sleep on a cold, drafty shipping bunk for three days. The thought makes her sigh, and she tugs on the back of her neck in thought. “Now that the strike is over, I’ll have to give her a call. See what she wants to do.”

“Or,” Tenzin says slowly, steering her around the corner, where Oogi is waiting with laden saddles, as if prepared for a trip, “you could join me on my trip south.”

Lin looks over at him in shock. “Tenzin—”

“I know how much Kya was looking forward to your visit,” he says hesitantly, tugging on his ear awkwardly, “and I’m traveling to the Southern Air Temple to assist in Solstice preparations anyway. I would be happy to fly the few extra hours to drop you at Harbor City.”

She hesitates. She’s not the impulsive type by any means, but she  _ had _ been planning the vacation anyway, before the whole union strike thing that occurred. And it would mean so much to Kya, who had sounded so put out over the phone when she told her she wasn’t going to make it.

“I’ll need to go pack a bag,” she says slowly.

A smile appears on his face, almost swallowed by his beard. “Of course.”

* * *

**[Friday; Harbor City, Southern Water Tribe]**

The tent is packed with people, which makes Kya happy as she preps her station for her next patient.

This is the busiest they’ve been the entire festival, probably something with it being the Friday night before the solstice the next day. One half of the tent is filled with people giving blood and the other is filled folks of all ages lined up to get their yearly vaccinations.

It warms her heart to see so many people there. It means their information campaign is working.

Her next patient is a little girl, no more than five, with her mother in tow. Kya smiles down at her; they always send her the kids, which she doesn’t mind, especially when they are as cute as this one.

“Hey there, sweetheart,” she says kindly. “I’m Healer Kya. What’s your name?”

“Siqiniq.”

“It’s nice to meet you Siqiniq,” she says solemnly, then turns to the girl’s mom, whom she recognizes as a patient from the clinic. “And what is she getting today?”

“Septapox and influenza.”

“And you?”

“Just the influenza.”

“You got it.” Kya takes the clipboard and looks it over, then sets it aside. “Alright, kiddo. You want to help me give your mom her vaccine?”

Siqiniq’s eyes are wide. “How?”

“Roll up her sleeve while I get everything ready.”

Thus deputized, the girl springs into action, badgering her mother to take off her parka in the warm tent so she can help. Kya gives her mother a conspiratorial smile, and grabs the pre-loaded syringes and pops the cap off an influenza one.

Her mother, Ikiaq if Kya remembered correctly, sits in the folding chair as her daughter shoves her sleeve up her arm.

“And where should I give her the shot?” Kya asks Siqiniq seriously. “Here?” She points to Ikiaq’s wrist.

“No!”

“Here?” She points to Ikiaq’s elbow.

“No!”

“Then where should I give her it?” Kya asks.

Siqiniq points at the meat of her mother’s shoulder triumphantly. “There!”

“There? Yeah, I think that’s right. Nice work.”

Siqiniq beams, and Kya pulls water out of a nearby bowl and holds it over the spot to clean and disinfect the skin for the needle. “You’re gonna be brave for me, right?” she asks Ikiaq teasingly.

Ikiaq’s dark eyes twinkle. “Of course.”

“Alright, here we go.” She passes the water back into the dirty bucket and grabs the influenza needle and a piece of gauze. “One, two, three—slight pinch and—there you go.”

Ikiaq smiles at her daughter as Kya pulls another bit of water from her bowl to heal the prick the needle had left. “See, sweetie? Easy.”

“Me next!”

“Never seen a kid so excited for their vaccines before,” Kya laughs as she caps the needle and bins it, cleaning her hands with waterbending before preparing to give Siqiniq her shots. “What’d you bribe her with?”

“A whole lot of stuffed toys,” Ikiaq replies with a laugh of her own.

The thought of this little girl at her patient station loaded up with plushies from the carnival makes Kya smile, and she distracts Siqiniq with a joke as she disinfects her arms. “Why are plush animals never hungry?”

“I dunno.”

“Because they’re  _ stuffed. _ ”

Kya takes Siqiniq’s delighted giggle as the signal to give her the pentapox shot, and Siqiniq is still laughing as water glows under Kya’s fingers to heal the shot zone.

“What are fish so smart?”

The little girl’s brow furrows. “Why?”

“’Cuz they live in schools.” Even Ikiaq cracks a smile at that one, and Kya carefully delivers the flu shot as soon as Siqiniq stops rolling around in her chair. “Alright! And you did it. Nice job, sweetie.”

“Wasn’t so bad.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Ikiaq agrees, and mouths a silent thank you to Kya over her daughter’s head.

Kya beams at her and reaches for the clipboard, quickly signing her name across the bottom of all tree slips and handing the bottoms back to Ikiaq. “Thanks for coming by. Enjoy the fair. There’s blubbered seal jerky by the door as a reward.”

“Thank you. Say thank you to Healer Kya, honey.”

“Thank you, Healer Kya!”

“You’re welcome,” Kya replies, and gives her a little wave as she hops off with her mother. She watches her go for a second, then leans over to immerse her hands for a deep cleaning, calling out, “Next at four please.”

Someone steps up to the table, and she doesn’t even look up at them as she says, “Just have a seat and I’ll be right with you. Influenza or septapox?”

“I already got mine in Republic City,” a familiar voice says sheepishly, and Kya snaps her head up to see partner standing, wrapped in her thickest winter coat, looking hesitant but very much present on the other side of her table.

She stands with a gasp, her chair clattering to the floor behind her. 

“Lin!”

Before she can stop herself she’s launching herself over her little table and throwing her arms around her girlfriend’s shoulders. She can feel her own heart hammering in her chest, and feels Lin stiffen against her…but then Lin relaxes, and strong arms wrap around her waist despite the public nature of the location.

Tears prick in her eyes, and Kya buries her face in her girlfriend’s neck with a happy little sob.

“What are you  _ doing _ here?” she asks incredulously, because she can’t believe Lin here, solid and warm and  _ holding her in public _ like Lin is just as desperate for the contact as she is.

“Thought I’d surprise you,” Lin murmurs quietly, one strong hand coming up to rub her back like it’s just the two of them alone and not at least two dozen people here in this tent, watching their reunion. “Tenzin helped.”

“Tenzin?”

Kya can’t believe her little brother would do something so sweet or so deceptive, but Lin nods so it must be true. Lin never lies if she can help it.

“I  _ hate _ both of you,” she mumbles waterily, but when she pulls back she makes sure she smiles so Lin doesn’t get anxious about it. “How long were you planning this?”

“We didn’t really have a plan,” Lin admits guiltily. “The strike ended Wednesday, and he was leaving anyway.”

“So you decided to surprise me?”

“Yeah.” A nervous pause. “Is that okay?”

Kya strokes her thumb along Lin’s jaw, but resists the urge to kiss her.  _ That _ would be too much, even for her. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

The metalbender offers her up a half-smile. “Yes but…you’re working.”

Kya glances around. So she is, and they’re holding up her table for patients. At the check-in table by the entrance, Kya sees Nanouk smiling conspiratorially, and knows that her fellow healer had sent Lin to the front of her line the second she arrived.

“Do you still have a key to my apartment?”

Lin nods.

“I’m here for another two hours,” Kya says apologetically, “but I’ll meet you there when I’m done.”

She nods again, and regretfully pulls away. Kya doesn’t want to let her go.

.

.

.

When Kya unlocks the door to her apartment, she finds Lin has lit a roaring fire in the wood stove, and there’s a kettle of water sitting on top, bubbling happily. The woman in question is sitting almost directly in front of it, lounging on her side in deference to her bad hip, reading a book with her reading glasses on.

Kya’s heart melts.

“Cold?” she asks fondly as she tucks her keys in her purse and hangs it up on the hook by the door.

Lin looks up from her book and carefully sets it aside, tucking her bookmark in before letting it get lost amongst the pillows. She’s wearing the thick, forest green sweater Kya knitted for her the year before, and she has one of Kya’s furs pulled over her legs.

Spirits.

Kya gets across the room just as Lin levers into a sitting position, but Kya practically tackles her in her desperation to kiss her. Their teeth clack as they go down, but Lin wraps an arm around her and captures her lips in her own as Kya rights herself over her. It’s been two months since they last kissed, but this is nothing like the furtive goodbye kiss she stole from Lin on the Republic City docks. This is how Kya loves to be kissed, slow at first and then deeper as she gets more comfortable. 

She sighs into Lin’s mouth, slides her fingers into her hair, scraping her nails against Lin’s scalp and relishing the way she hums.

She only pulls away when Lin shifts, but she doesn’t go far. “I can’t believe you conspired to surprise me.”

Lin looks embarrassed. “I told you…the strike just ended and Tenzin was leaving anyway…he offered the ride, and I accepted.”

“And you didn’t telegram,” Kya teases.

“It was very last minute—” Lin starts, but Kya smoothes away her fluster with her thumb and a gentle kiss.

“I know, my love.”

Lin’s eyes crinkle in realization and she relaxes under Kya.

Kya kisses her again, then glances at the kettle on the stove. “You made tea?”

“I made hot water for tea,” her partner corrects. “I thought you might like some after your day.”

Kya squeezes Lin’s face where she’s cupped her cheek, and scoots off her. She goes to get a tea canister from her cabinets, and pauses as she notices two white cardstock boxes tied shut with twice on the stove. 

She plucks at the twine curiously. “What are these?”

“We stopped in Fire Fountain for the night yesterday,” Lin says by way of explanation, throwing the skin off her legs and standing slowly. Kya watches as she winces as her hip pops, but then she makes her way over to the kitchen and slices the twine with the knife in her ring. “It’s not very traditional but… I made sure to pick you up some fire jelly donuts.”

The healer’s eyes widen, and she reaches for the top box with delight.

“Ah,” Lin says sheepishly as she opens it to discover  _ not _ the fire jelly donuts she had been promised, but several little round tarts that look suspiciously Air Nation made. “Those are from the temple. Tenzin insisted.”

So they were Air Nation made. “You stopped at the temple, too?”

Lin nods. “Very shortly, to feed Oogi and drop off something before we continued.”

Kya hums and inspects the tarts. Whoever was working in the Southern Temple bakery had perfected the craft, and she could tell just by looking that the filling had been perfectly whipped with airbending. They’d be fluffy and soft, just like Dad used to make. “What flavors?”

“Strawberry, moon peach, and egg custard.”

Her favorite.

She turns from the stove and the confections Lin had brought—so thoughtful in all of their execution, and raises an eyebrow.

“I know you’ve been working hard,” is all Lin says by explanation, slightly bashful.

Tui and La, Kya loves Lin.

She grabs the front of Lin’s sweater and tugs her into a kiss, causing Lin to yelp in surprise and brace herself against the counter on either side of Kya. Kya loves it, and reaches up to cup her face in both hands.

“You are absolutely the most perfect woman in the world,” she tells her seriously. “You know that, right?”

Lin blushes.

Kya smiles and kisses her again. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, if you liked what you read, please do leave a review. <3


End file.
